William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright. He wrote thirty-seven plays, about 154 sonnets, and a variety of other poems. Already a popular writer in his own lifetime, his work became increasingly celebrated after his death and has been adulated by numerous prominent cultural figures through the centuries. Shakespeare now has a reputation as the greatest writer in the English language, as well as one of the greatest in Western literature, and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. Shakespeare is believed to have produced most of his work between 1586 and 1616.